Nobody older than 27 has pulled on the famous blue and whitestripes of Huddersfield Town this season, with every matchday squad rich inplayers to have graduated from the club's Academy.

In recent years of financial difficulty it had been out ofnecessity. Now, with the Terriers bankrolled by local lad done good Dean Hoyle, it appears tobe a firm policy.

"The criteria I set out for signings is this - I want youngand hungry players who want to get better and have the desire to play at ahigher level," said manager Lee Clark, who has been in charge since last December.

Town have now had Academy status for 10 years and although League One rivals such asLeeds, Norwich and MK Dons have them too, the Terriers' is particularlysuccessful.

Goalkeeper Alex Smithies is extremely highly rated, yet Nathanand Tom Clarke, Joe Skarz, Michael Collins and James Berrett have been in andaround the first team this season. Three of them started against Hartlepool onSaturday and two more were on the bench.

Tom Clarke, Smithies and Collins have been at the club sincethey were nine. All are from the Huddersfield area and I think it is bothadmirable and refreshing that in an age when football is a global game Townhave retained a culture of producing local lads.

I canvassedHuddersfield supporters on the 606 boards recently about their club and one theme thatemerged more than just about any other was the pride they felt in the club'sAcademy. I think it has something to do with identity and the excitement ofseeing a local lad play for your team.

A lot of the credit for its success is given to GerryMurphy. As well as three spells as caretaker manager of the firstteam, the Irishman was in charge of the youth set up at the club for almost 20years before retiring in February.

Graham Mitchell is now the Academy Manager. A local lad wholives in Baildon,he had a long playing career with the club and has been on the coaching staffsince 2002.

"I wish I had a magic formula but one of the biggest thingsfor me is the quality of opposition we play against," said Mitchell when Iasked him about Academy success.

"Most of our opposition teams are from clubs in the PremierLeague or the Championship and that is a big factor in bringing on ourboys."

Between 15 and 18 - the years Mitchell terms the "nittygritty" - there is an emphasis placed on the importance of learning how towin games.

"They need to learn that because if they becomeprofessional they will go into an environment where the bottom line is allabout winning," he said.

But ultimately a lot of the success of Town's Academy comes downto the strength of their recruitment. The logic is simple - the more talentedthe youngster, the better quality of player they can ultimately produce.

"We can always improve boys but they have always got tohave that little bit of something," said Mitchell.

"We have scouts all over the place and we work extremelyhard to try to get the best players in at the start."

Recruitment - it is a crucial factor in the success of any cluband is as relevant to Clark as it is to Mitchell.

"It is a major aspect of being a manager," said Clark."You have to get more signings right than wrong or you could be looking atfalling on your sword."

The curmudgeonly Stan Ternent, Clark'spredecessor as manager, signed several experienced players nearing the end oftheir careers such as David Unsworth and Chris Lucketti.

In contrast, Clark has signed almost exclusively young players, his oldest recruit being 27-year-old defender PeterClarke.

He does not care where they come from - Danny Drinkwater is onloan from Manchester United while Lee Novak arrived from Gateshead - as long asthey have the potential, hunger and desire.

Clark reckons he is looking at players most nights and isconstantly discussing with Hoyle or chief executive Nigel Clibbens how hissquad can be improved. If he likes a player he will check them out himselfseveral times, compile a dossier on them and dig into all aspects of theirlife.

Clark, a talented midfielder who came through the ranks atNewcastle, his hometown club, is undoubtedly fortunate to be at such afinancially secure club so early in his managerial career.

Town ended the summer with a reputation as League One's bigspenders after recruiting the likes of Peter Clarke, Lee Peltier, Antony Kay,Robbie Simpson, Theo Robinson and Jordan Rhodes, while Anthony Pilkington wassigned for £500,000 in January.

But having money to spend is one thing, doing so wisely anotherentirely.

The fact that Town are currently third in a very tough-lookingLeague One suggests he has bought well. Town have conceded just twice in their last five games whilescoring 19 in the process.

Rhodes, 19, has nine League One goals so far and is a particularly interesting example of Clark's buyingpolicy. The Town manager first became aware of him two years agowhen Rhodes, then 17, was at Ipswich and Clark was reserve team boss atNorwich.

Rhodes was gaining a big reputation and impressed playing againstNorwich's reserves. Clark monitored his progress and noticed that hisgoals-to-game ratio remained at roughly one in two during several loan spells.Roy Keane replaced Jim Magilton as Ipswich manager towards the end of lastseason and Clark decided to test the water.

"I was really just trying my luck in the summer but we werenever turned away or our advances rejected - we just had to come to anagreement over figures," said the manager.

Many Ipswich fans were dismayed by Rhodes' departure. Was Clarksurprised to get him? "I was pleasantly surprised," is all he willsay.

The potential of Town's squad has not gone unnoticed and more scouts have been at their gamesthis season than attend a jamboree - something that 37-year-old Clark is fullyaware of.

"We don't have to sell any player," said Clark, whosesentences are sparse and economical, with few words wasted. After a long pause,he continued: "For any price."

It is a luxury beyond most managers in the lower divisions - andthe strength of his resolve could be severely tested in January.

Whether the squad can last the distance this season remains tobe seen. Clark is confident that the fitness work done by performance coach Steve Black, who hasmentored Jonny Wilkinson throughout his career, will ensure his team do not runout of steam.

Clark is fiercely ambitious and is constructing a squad tomatch.

Yet if Town do start to move through the leagues it will surelymake it harder for the Academy to produce first-team players.

Mitchell reckons: "One of our major pulling points is the success rate wehave had in getting boys into the first team. That is a big attraction toparents."

Will they still want to sign for Town if those opportunitiesbecome increasingly scarce?

Clark himself is adamant that Huddersfield's Academy must remaina central part of the club.

"Manchester United still produces its own players and it isvitally important," he said.

"My ultimate goal and vision is for the first team and theAcademy to be located on the same site so that my staff and I get to know theyounger lads on a personal basis."

Perhaps the last word should go to Mitchell.

"The standards that we set will have to be higher butHuddersfield has always been my club and I hope we see a lot more boys from thearea pull on the blue and white in the future," he said.

Paul Fletcher | 12:46 UK time,Monday, 23 November 2009

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